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Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/22/2020 in all areas

  1. I wonder if grandpa has ever come back to his car in a snow storm and found his car full of snow because he didn't know his window was open? Probably has a wicked air conditioning bill in the summer when the windows in the house are open. Drive through restaurants must be a PITA for him. Is the window open or not? So confusing. Is he a Mac IT professional because Windows seems to give him a lot of trouble.
    10 points
  2. Would have to be a hell of a defect, he stuck his head though the opening a minute or so before holding the child up to it If his short term memory is that bad I wouldn't let him watch over my pen, never mind a kid
    8 points
  3. This has to be one of my favorites of all the... hundreds? More likely thousands of photos you've taken. I don't care that it's only January 21, this one has got to (a) get into Friday Photos at some point, and (b) be a finalist for Best Cruise Photo of 2020.
    7 points
  4. I will dress up, on "wear your best" or "formal" or anything else they call it....night. Why? Because I enjoy a reason to get all spiffy, use what I learned in junior cotillion as a middle schooler (since i rarely ever do...), see my beautiful bride in a nice dress (shes usually in scrubs) and enjoy the night.... Do I care what anyone else does? No....no I do not. Same as me not caring what you do with the rest of your cruise... Happy Cruising, everyone!
    6 points
  5. Matt

    Problem with Oasis?

    Wait, is @Lovetocruise2002 that wealthy? Oh heyyyyy Sabrina....your eyes look lovely this morning!
    6 points
  6. Not specific to RCCL, but I found this to be an interesting article, anyway. https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2020/01/21/cruise-ship-environmental-impacts-how-industry-going-green/2844697001/ Im all for doing my part to have as little environmental impact as I can, but I also enjoy cruising, and the ability to see the environment that cruising provides. Regardless of your viewpoints on the environment, global warming, etc...I think we can all agree anything any industry does to pollute less, and keep our environment beautiful, is the right thing to do.
    5 points
  7. This is a photo I found of the railing in relation to the window.
    5 points
  8. Cruise Summary When ever I sail a Quantum class ship I'm reminded about how much I love this class of ship. I was just on the newly amped Oasis and that is a great class of ship but there is something about Anthem and Ovation that is really appealing. I prefer both the balcony and junior suites on these ships more than Oasis class. The balcony cabin layout and bathroom is just about perfect on this class. As it has happened to work out 80% of my 2020 cruises are on Quantum class and I'm okay with that. On this trip I hardly used the pool deck and for the first time I didn't use North Star or iFly. I don't know where the time went but other than walking through the Solarium a couple times I lived on the lower decks this cruise. I'm not a sun worshiper so that plays into equation. I may dig through some of my older Anthem picture galleries to post some pictures because the Solarium is one of the nicest in the fleet and the indoor pool area for families is perfect for this ship. I wouldn't be doing her justice to not show them off. I did walk through the SeaPlex with the goal of visioning how Playmakers will work on Odyssey when she arrives later this year. I'm really looking forward to sailing on that ship with the evolution that has come with operating these ships for a number of years now. I was disappointed when Spectrum went straight to Asia but was thrilled when Odyssey was placed in Florida for the end of this year. A lot has been said about Diamond Plus being restricted from the Concierge Lounge. I seem to pick my sail dates with increased number of top elite so that is something I've experienced a number of times on both Anthem and Ovation. I've got to say the expanded Diamond Lounge has always worked really well for me on both ships. I met some new friends and saw a many of them night after night. As a solo cruiser I love that the Music Hall bar is available for happy hour. It's much easier to meet and talk with new friends at the bar seating compared to a table somewhere by myself. For me losing access to the CL is a non-event. The crew were amazing once again on Anthem. I've sailed with Captain Srecko before and will always look forward to sailing with him again. Coastal Kitchen once again was a star and a highlight of the cruise for me. The night one filet is one of the best steaks in the fleet. I am really glad they occasionally do these longer itineraries on Anthem. It's such a nice ship a 7 or 8 night is too short and the ports are more interesting on these longer runs. Having to wear long pants on the first and last day in the middle of winter is trivial. Bayonne or Cape Liberty is a great home port. With sub $20 rideshare transfers it's second only to Fort Lauderdale for fly-in convenience. Facial recognition is a welcome update since my last Bayonne departure that makes the debarking process so easy. I'll post the specialty dining menus I have soon and I may go through some of my older Anthem pictures to find the best one to show off a few areas I missed this time around. Until then I hope you enjoyed following along and I thank you for viewing. Cheers!
    5 points
  9. After the arrival of the Carnival Elation. There was a yacht behind it. But after the Yacht it was time for the Celebrity Equinox arrival into Nassau. After watching that great arrival Of the Celebrity Equinox. It was then time for lunch in the windjammer. and then after that lunch It was time to go back to the flowrider. This wave Session was not at all packed and I was able to get 15+ rides in.
    4 points
  10. Have you watched many of this guy's videos? I did and I find myself incompatible with a lot of of his "information". It has given me a great deal of respect for @Matt who doesn't produce drivel just for the sake of getting "clicks" and "watches".
    4 points
  11. Where has the time gone? As I get ready for my last visit to the Music Hall Diamond overflow happy hour, it's hard to pull myself away from this stunning final sunset. Just loving this deck 6 balcony. Close to the water, stunning sunsets. Should have booked a B2B. I'm not ready to go home.
    4 points
  12. Day 10 - Evening Being on the port side heading North I get the sunsets on the way home. Time for a drink in the Music Hall.
    4 points
  13. I know what you are thinking. January 2022? Did I read that right? In order to secure a great price on one of only two Star Class Ultimate Panoramic Suites on Oasis I booked this a couple of months ago when the itineraries where first released. Within minutes of them going public I secured the 2nd of these two suites in the name of research and, well it seemed like a good excuse to book a cruise. That's nice and all but why start a blog now? I am so tired of @Matt beating up on my fellow Canadian @Lovetocruise2002 even though we all knew he has the record for starting a cruise blog the longest before any sailing in the history of these boards that I had to step in and take action. So back off Matt! Seven hundred and twenty nine days. Itinerary as it stands today includes Puerto Plata, DR, St Thomas USVI and San Juan Puerto Rico. This may be my only 2020 update. I'll do my best to update this blog at least once in 2021. Until then, let it be known I hold the record for the longest pre-cruise early blogging award!
    3 points
  14. Come on an Instagram adventure with me, as I take you around Labadee.
    3 points
  15. twangster

    Problem with Oasis?

    Doing shots in the morning? Again?
    3 points
  16. I'm reading an essay in The New Yorker by Atul Gawande about brain function, and it says, ". . . visual perception is more than ninety per cent memory and less than ten per cent sensory nerve signals." Also, "The mind integrates scattered, weak, rudimentary signals from a variety of sensory channels, information from past experiences, and hard-wired processes, and produces a sensory experience full of brain-provided color, sound, texture, and meaning." and the bottom line, "Perception is inference." We know this to be true. "Green" is only what our brains tell us, not necessarily what's out there. Maybe Grandpa really thought there was glass there, because of a defect in his neuro-perception or the information stored in his brain. Still, that's not RCCL's fault. RC cannot know what defects of thinking a passenger might have. So maybe it was just an unavoidable tragedy that's no one's fault. In time the family will catch on to the fact that Grandpa often doesn't know what's in front of him. Poor Grandpa. Poor Chloe. Poor family. It's just sad all around. But certainly not RCCL's fault!!!!!!!!!!!
    3 points
  17. I hope so – I love Dateline! One of the things I love about it is the guilty party is always found out and pays the penalty.
    3 points
  18. ellcee

    Box of 750ml wine

    This made me chuckle.
    3 points
  19. April 26, 2020 - May 3, 2020 on Harmony. March 20, 2021 - March 27, 2021 on Odyssey. SSooooooo far away. Wish that both cruises would be sooner but the good thing is that my Harmony Cruise is this April. Cant wait for Harmony in April and Odyssey Next March
    3 points
  20. dodgestang

    Drinks package

    Go into cruise planner, go into order history, click cancel, go back to drink page, add to cart, purchase. Be aware that cancelling requires a refund to be process which takes a couple days but purchasing it again puts it right on your card.
    3 points
  21. mworkman

    It’s not CK

    CK was awesome tonight! Filet Mignon was the dish..sorry I didn’t take any pic’s ?
    3 points
  22. twangster

    sitting on the balcony

    There is no rule against it. Someone I met at Diamond happy hour told me their adults kids enjoy "naked breakfast" on their balcony, something I've never heard of before. To each their own.
    3 points
  23. JLMoran

    sitting on the balcony

    You can, but I don't recommend it. Depending on your location, people fore and aft might have a clear view onto a decent chunk of your balcony space. And on some ships, cabins on higher decks are able to see the balconies of cabins lower down. All of this is assuming an ocean view balcony, not something like a central park / boardwalk balcony on Oasis class ships where you have the people on the other side of the ship able to see everything.
    3 points
  24. USCG Teacher

    Pricing increase

    Okay, sorry to go a bit OT here, but I just have to throw this out there. Want to know why I follow this board obsessively and pretty well ignore other cruise forums? This thread right here. This conversations could have gone SO many different ways (none of them good!), but instead we got questions probing for more information, relevant information and a potential solution versus arguments and "side-taking." Turns out there ARE still some little nice corners of the internet. ***Puts soapbox away.*** Thank you for your time.
    3 points
  25. twangster

    Pricing increase

    The move away from fully refundable deposits was in response to many people who did game the old system. I'm not saying anyone here did, but it was commonplace. Back then people would book cruises they had no intention to taking just to secure OBC or other perks and benefits. Then just before 90 days they would call in and move the booking to another ship. Some people did this for years with one booking. The problem the company faced was a surplus of cabins all coming available just before the 90 day mark. At that point many people have already made plans so they had a difficult time selling the ship. The current approach is designed to motivate people to only book cruises they intent to actually take much like non-refundable airfare when flying. Accepting non-refundable comes with terms and conditions. Accepting guarantee cabins to save money comes with sacrifices. The other issue for us cruisers right now is that cruising is extremely popular. More people are taking more cruises. Based on supply and demand that is driving up prices. When demand is high pricing will increase. All cruise lines follow this pricing principle. Inexpensive cruises are available but sometimes that means taking an older ship or less desirable itinerary. If it's popular it's in demand and pricing will not be the lowest available. That's why I often sail off peak and I don't mind older and smaller ships. They are great value.
    3 points
  26. WAAAYTOOO

    Suite Lounge IOS

    Back in "the day" (prior to DBP) they used to restrict drinks from being removed from the Lounge but these days, with the drinks package, they do not really care if you leave with drinks. In fact, I have been encouraged (by the servers) to take a drink with me when we leave for the dining room.
    2 points
  27. If the enjoyment of your cruise is based on what I wear to dinner, seek professional help.
    2 points
  28. We started leaving the pier just after 3pm and we were passing under the bridge at 3:30pm. My close up picture of Lady Liberty was at 3:10pm, the bridge picture with us passing under was at 3:29pm.
    2 points
  29. Chicken sammich with mozzi sticks as per Matt's recommendations.
    2 points
  30. I'd pick Oasis. Newly refurbished ship, latest and greatest to do onboard and 7-nights.
    2 points
  31. Very good point. ...and be aware that the luggage handlers at Bayonne are Longshoremen and they can be grumpy. ?
    2 points
  32. Prediction: not long after the trial concludes, this will be on Dateline.
    2 points
  33. Knowing what I do about the legal system and the way people's minds work, I predict that if Grandpa is found guilty in the criminal trial (and I hope he is), the family will cry, "Unfair!" and they'll appeal, and forever believe that it was RCCL's fault. It's far more comfortable than accepting the truth, which is too horrible. I wonder how Grandma and Grandpa's marriage is doing, and how it was before this. If I felt like spending a couple of years writing a novel, I can cook up a terrific backstory here!
    2 points
  34. It appears that the indoor pool on Odyssey will be another outdoor pool area. Other than the SeaPlex and 270 being indoors over the outdoors Aquatheater, there isn't much else that makes it necessarily more inward-facing. Esplanade and Promenade are effectively the same thing and entirely inside. Most of the Solariums in the fleet are mostly covered or have retractable roofing.
    2 points
  35. The over-the-water cabanas are the ones that can get up to $2.5k - in the Beach Club area. The Oasis Lagoon Cabanas are around the fresh water pool. We snagged one in December for $317 for 3 of us and we felt it was a good deal (it's rare to find them quite that low though). While we enjoyed them (and pretty much needed one that day since it was windy and cool), I'm not sure I'd do it again unless I had the right price and number of people. We definitely won't do it for just two of us.
    2 points
  36. Note that if you used any onboard credit for your original purchase, it will be available immediately to reuse for your repurchase.
    2 points
  37. Here’s desert, best I can do for now.
    2 points
  38. In truth I only know that your accent differs from my wife's. If you hadn't said anything I wouldn't have known what, exactly, the dialect was. So don't give me THAT much credit ?
    2 points
  39. This blog is probably one of my favorites of yours to date. I enjoyed seeing the pictures of the ship and am glad it has fewer pages (thank you to those who didn't repost your photos when replying to one of your posts). You went home?? I didn't know you ever went home-thought you basically lived on a cruise ship lately. At any rate, keep enjoying those cruises. I cannot wait to try a Quantum class ship sometime.
    2 points
  40. Well I'll be..this one got chartered..so replace it with:
    2 points
  41. Day 11 - Dinner You know it... Coastal Kitchen The day 1 menu was back and with it the Grilled Filet Mignon. Dinner with a friend so no pictures. Gotta say this filet let me down a bit. The flavor was good, it was cooked perfectly but the cut of meat wasn't that great and it was hard to cut through the sinew. However the ambiance, the company and the wine went a long way to overcome it.
    2 points
  42. The Pub. Live music or the place to see some sports, the Brass & Bock is conveniently found in the center of the Royal Esplanade. Dan Davis from the UK was on board for this sailing.
    2 points
  43. Day 11 - Sea Day Our final day is upon us. Curious. Anthem goes into dry dock in April yet they are replacing the Windjammer carpet on this sailing. Over several nights they've been tackling various sections of the WJ and now it appears complete. Their stash of carpet in a corner of the SeaPlex has been dwindling night after night. For reference the temperature is down to 61°F. Out here away from land a big influencer on air temperature is the sea. Absent of any land mass to heat up and change temperatures, the temperature of the sea is the most significant factor in the air temperature. Many people always ask what will weather be like when sailing from Bayonne? Absent of a weather system the temperature of the sea will likely determine how it feels on board. Search for ocean temperatures and you'll get a baseline of what to expect. Beautiful conditions again today. Captain's Corner in two70° to a full house. Several guests made comments related to Captain Srecko and his presence around the ship. He frequently walked through Coastal Kitchen during dinner and apparently did the same in the MDR. Not only is he a great mariner but he is also a great host around the ship. The topic of his Flowrider and iFly skills came up and Mitch our CD noted the Captain doesn't simply use the Flowrider or iFly, he must inspect them from time to time. One guest made the mistake of calling Anthem "a boat". The Captain stopped Mitch from answering the question. "If there was just one person on a ship who would that be?" he asked - The Captain. "If there was just one person on a boat?" he then asked - A frustrated husband. It was all in good fun. At any rate Captain Srecko is well liked by the guests.
    2 points
  44. Dinner - Coastal Kitchen Iceberg Wedge Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb. So good my waiter brought me a second serving. Baked Alaska for dessert.
    2 points
  45. I saw another display from the food and beverage team on Anthem in the Esplanade. When I first saw the Bionic bar being replenished I thought... "they are making the robots so lifelike these days" Yes, even Bionic Bar drinks are subject to 18% gratuity. I guess this is why. ? Don't shoot the messenger.
    2 points
  46. Day 10 - Sea Day Morning finds us in much the same conditions as last night albeit down one degree in temperature. We are roughly parallel with the central Florida area (Orlando). Last night my cabin attendant washed down my balcony so it was useable again.
    2 points
  47. I normally don’t quote pics but I am laughing so hard at this one! I dare you to email this pic to your Genie. ?
    2 points
  48. GregD

    Problem with Oasis?

    Per this page http://www.royalcaribbeanincentives.com/full-ship-charter-faqs/ Its only 6.5-11 million to charter an Oasis Class ship for 7 nights. I bet @Lovetocruise2002 could YOLO that with @Matt for one heck of a group cruise
    2 points
  49. Get the red velvet cupcakes. Thank me later.
    2 points
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